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Friday, March 21, 2014

Chapter By Chapter Author Spotlight: K. M. Walton

Sometimes there's no easy way out.

Victor
hates his life. He has no friends, gets beaten up at school, and his
parents are always criticizing him. Tired of feeling miserable, Victor
takes a bottle of his mother's sleeping pills—only to wake up in the
hospital.

Bull is angry, and takes all of his rage out on Victor.
That makes him feel better, at least a little. But it doesn't stop
Bull's grandfather from getting drunk and hitting him. So Bull tries to
defend himself with a loaded gun.

When Victor and Bull end up as
roommates in the same psych ward, there's no way to escape each other or
their problems. Which means things are going to get worse—much
worse—before they get better…

Dell is used to
disappointment. Ever since her dad left, it’s been one let down after
another. But no one—not even her best friend—gets all the pain she’s
going through. So Dell hides behind self-deprecating jokes and forced
smiles.

Then the one person she trusts betrays her. Dell is
beyond devastated. Without anyone to turn to for comfort, her depression
and self-loathing spin out of control. But just how far will she go to
make all of the heartbreak and name-calling stop?

In this anthology, 20
authors explore the dark and hidden meanings behind some of the most
beloved Mother Goose nursery rhymes through short story retellings. The
dark twists on classic tales range from exploring whether Jack truly
fell or if Jill pushed him instead to why Humpty Dumpty, fragile and
alone, sat atop so high of a wall. The authors include Nina Berry,
Sarwat Chadda, Leigh Fallon, Gretchen McNeil, K.M. Walton and Suzanne Young.

K.M. Walton is the author of
the contemporary young adult novels, CRACKED (2012) and EMPTY (2013).
Her next novel, titled LIES WE TELL releases January 2015. She is
represented by Jim McCarthy from Dystel & Goderich Literary
Management.

K. M. had a gazillion dreams when she was a little
girl. Her biggest dream was to be a teacher. Teaching became a reality
for K. M. and she taught for twelve glorious years – some of it in
Osteen, Florida and most of it in Springfield, Pennsylvania. But, it
turns out writing is her favorite thing to do. Even the hard parts – and
there are a lot of hard parts.

K.M. Walton also co-authored a
book on the teaching of mathematics called TEACHING NUMERACY: 9 Critical
Habits to Ignite Mathematical Thinking published by Corwin Press.